brucemc

sirozha said:

This is how I would use the Series 4 watch. If I receive a notification of a possible AFib, I would immediately launch the EKG app and take a few consecutive EKG samples. If the EKG reports AFib, I would PANIC!

 Then, I would probably drive myself (or be driven) to an emergency room. I would not call an ambulance because the price of an ambulance ride is insane. You may end up paying thousands of dollars just for an ambulance trip. Believe me, it happened to me even though I had insurance.

At the emergency room, I would be at the mercy of their triage team, depending on what their views are of this new feature in the Apple Watch. Perhaps, in some emergency rooms, I would be put in the front of the line and immediately taken to the back for an EKG. It's also very possible that in other emergency rooms, I would be scoffed at for coming with this silly reason and placed at the end of line.

If the latter happens, I would probably be mad and worried for hours while waiting in the reception room for my turn. Then, I would probably wait in one of the rooms in the back for a few more hours until they finally come to do my EKG. Then, about three or four hours later (totaling 7-8 hours of waiting), a doctor (or most likely a PA) would show up and tell me that there may be a little deviation from the norm in my EKG and that I need to see a cardiologist. Two thousand dollars later, I will come home in the middle of the night, worried, upset, etc. 

The following day, I would call a cardiologist to make an appointment, and would go through the regular cardio checkup. 


I'm a little ambivalent about these new features. I'm sure there will be people whose lives it will save, but I'm afraid there will be people who will have a heart attack from a self-diagnosis. So for now, I will stick with my Series 3 watch.

Mike Wuerthele said:

tbornot said:

This probably should have been marked as an editorial.

It is.

rogifan_new said:

I’m not sure who’s more defensive about Apple these days: Tim Cook or DED.